Soul Disposition
by Nautica7mk
Summary: Written in Installments. The first was Assault on Kent Farm which is later followed by Daily Planet Wanderings, then so on and so forth. Each Chapter has an End.
1. Assault on Kent Farm

**Title**: Assault on Kent Farm  
**Author**: Nadia Mack  
**Rating**: K+  
**Disclaimer**: I Own Nothing. Oh, and spoilers for the upcoming season. If you're spoiler-free don't read if you know what's good for you.  
**Author's Notes**: It's been a while since I wrote a fic, so I hope I haven't totally lost my touch. Feel free to critique.

Clark Kent sat dejectedly on his sofa watching reruns of _I Love Lucy_ on the television, a bowl of warm popcorn on his lap and a large bottle of soda on the living room table. Ever since the arrival of his cousin, Kara, whom he didn't really believe existed after another girl had impersonated her, his life had gotten a lot more complicated than he ever expected it to be.

She was absolutely out of control.

Not in the crazy-send-her-to-a-psyche-ward type of control, but more like a stereotypical teenager bent on making him grow gray hairs before he reached 25 out-of-control. IPods, vintage clothing, motorcycles… dates… Clark sighed. He didn't like her dates at all. A few months into being a big-brother figure and already, he was compelled to hit every guy who rang his doorbell.

"Hey, Smallville!"

Clark looked over and an unexpected smile came over him. "Hey, Lois," he said, sitting himself upright to clear the little mess of popcorn he made on the sofa. "What are you doing here?"

She sat down on the space he made for her. "Heard your cousin was spending the weekend with your mom in D.C. Thought I'd come here and continue the task of driving you insane," Lois said teasingly. "What's on?"

His expression turned sheepish. "I, um, stuff."

"Reruns of Lucy, huh?"

When he felt he was clear of any disparaging remarks from her, he answered. "Yeah." He handed over his popcorn as soon as she made herself comfortable.

"I love this episode," she squeaked adorably. "_Vitameatavegamin_! I remember spending an entire summer with my sister watching this show. We must have butchered the word before my eight-year-old self was finally capable of pronouncing it."

He stared at her, trying to hide his smile. If anyone had told him that his quest for solitude in his own home would turn into a possible day of watching old reruns with the ever charming Lois Lane, he would never believe it, especially if it occurred a year or two ago. A woman who has constantly and deliberately put him on edge, and with little thought to how he may feel, he should be outraged.

"So is this what you call _driving me insane_?" Clark asked with a twinkle in his eye. "I think your slipping."

Two dimples appeared on either side of her mouth. "I thought I'd keep it light today."

"I didn't think you had it in you."

"What can I say?" Lois said with an exaggerated stretch of her arms out wide. "I'm just full of surprises." Her body moved sideways, her feet crossing at the ankles before settling over Clark's lap without a second thought while her back rested on several throw pillows piled together at the other end of the couch.

Clark could have rolled his eyes at her obvious expression that could've been similar to an explorer conquering a new world, but the look of pure content on her face kept any such ideas from coming to fruition. For one, he was grateful for her these last few months. Lois was one of the first to truly welcome Kara without too many questions, and it also helped that Kara took to her a hell of a lot more quickly than any of them.

Although, there were many of times he hated seeing them together. Perhaps hate is too strong of a word. Dislike. Yes, that's a better word. Kara and Lois had similar characteristics he could only describe with words such as strong-willed, stubbornness, defiance and arrogance.

For all intents and purposes, Kara was supposed to be the oldest out of everyone, but because of complicated circumstances, he ended up becoming older while she remained undiscovered near a dam and in a state of frozen animation, making him just a tad bit older and he felt that Kara resented him a little for that. She butted heads with almost everyone she meets, and practically everyone he likes to associate with, sans Luthor.

Then the one person she butted heads with butted her head right back, much to Kara's surprise. Because she couldn't reveal her powers, an argument that seemed endless between them (and gave him another new level of respect for his parents) even now, it didn't stop the constant fight for female dominance between Kara Zorel and Lois Lane, but it was obvious that the two females enjoyed hanging out and soon their heat matches quickly mellowed out and the two became friends sharing mutual respect for one another.

He attributed the quality of easily making friends with Kara in Lois's many years of experience with her own baby sister, Lucy Lane. If it wasn't for Lois, he and Kara would not probably get alone as well as they have been lately.

"How's the Planet?" Clark wondered curiously. "Are you behaving?"

Lois threw him a lop-sided grin. "Wouldn't you like to know," she said mysteriously.

She was flirting with him.

Clark gulped. He was flirting with her too. He didn't know when he started to consciously be aware of it, but he had a very strong feeling that Kara's excessive remarks upon the matter were partly the catalyst for it.

Mostly though, he was confused. He'd known Lois for over three years, and never in that time had she ever indicated an interest in him romantically (and that's not counting the times she didn't know they kissed each other), that and his unhealthy obsession over Lana no doubly help keep their relationship very platonic.

Until recently, he was becoming very aware of her. Every word that came out of her mouth was worth listening to. Every gesture made a world of difference. Her laughter became his laughter. Her smile easily puts a smile to his face. Her eyes, more expressive than he ever allowed himself to see, were the striking color of green.

In truth, everything about her was attractive. But there was no point in finding this woman intriguing. She would never think of him more than just the farmboy she'd become best friends with. After A.C., Oliver (a man she was clearly in love with) and it bothers him to even contemplate it, this Grant editor guy from the office, alien powers be damned, he couldn't compare.

"Don't you have plans this weekend?" Clark asked.

"If you call spending the day tracking down potential stories and spending all night putting together to meet the morning's deadline a weekend, then you're right, I am slipping."

A smile touched his slips. "So you don't have any plans?" he pressed, but not without wondering why.

A giggle erupted from between her lips but he soon realized she was reacting to a scene of Lucy slurring through her lines after taking a mouthful of her promotional tonic, a scene that even he had to admit, made him laugh every time he saw it.

SMACK!

Clark blinked and then his eyes turned to Lois who continued to lounge, her hands holding onto the pillow that he was pretty sure was responsible for the attack. He gave her a challenging look that she more than gladly returned.

"You're going down."

"Give it your best shot, Clarkie."

Oh, she played dirty. "Don't say I didn't warn you," Clark said, grabbing his own pillow for ammo. 

Both of them jumped off the couch, each taking one side. Hands armed with pillows and ready for battle when a flutter in his stomach assaulted his concentration. That moment of distraction cost him his ear when Lois quickly thwacked the pillow right by his head.

"1-0," Lois yelled, disappearing into the kitchen with another pillow in her hands. "Best out of 11!" she added just for sportsmanship's sake.

Now she was really going to get it.

Clark chased after her hitting her square on her back. This went on for a few more hits until they both ended upstairs, Lois sitting against the closed door of the bathroom to catch her breath while Clark sat on the other side of it, waiting for her to open the door so he could take the winning point. Pillows still clutched on both of hands and ready to react at even the smallest of movements.

"9-10, game point," Clark reminded her smugly. "You can't stay in there forever." He promised himself after the second point that he wouldn't use his powers. It was only fair even if Lois didn't necessarily play fairly.

His ears inadvertently picked up noises behind the door and he forced himself not to x-ray through it just to see what she was up to. Pride and integrity won out and he stood, waiting for the inevitable. He was sure she was up to something and he wasn't going to be caught off guard. No way. Not this time.

A second later, the door swung open and Clark stood dumbly at the sight of her.

SMACK!

Lois ran under his outstretched arm and hit him again in the back before disappearing into his bedroom, the door closing just as he managed to turn his head and faintly hear her triumphantly declare herself the winner.

Ten minutes later he glared at her.

"Come on, don't be a sore loser!"

"That wasn't playing fair," he said, crossing his arms and looking the picture of a man who just got the rug pulled under him. "You can't… just… do that."

He was flustered and she used that to her every advantage.

"It's not as if you hadn't seen them before."

His face turned an embarrassingly deep shade of red. "Still!" he exclaimed, jaws clenching and thumping his fist down like a judge with a mallet but then he caught the pure look of innocence on her face and he quickly got sucked into it. The fluttering in his stomach came back ten-folds and he was forced to name it the "Lois feeling."

Clark's simmering annoyance at being bested not once but twice was tempered considerably by the adorable sight of her skipping her way back down the steps to the living room. "What are you doing?" he asked wearily at the sight of her picking up the cordless phone.

"Calling for take-out," she said and then grudgingly admitted something else. "Okay, maybe taking off my top was juvenile, but you're a straight guy and I needed to distract you, so I'm sorry."

Clark let out a sigh of relief when she added, "Not about winning, of course."

"Of course," he replied dryly.

Lois threw one of those mega-watt smiles his way and a sudden realization struck him so powerfully, he needed to sit down. In fact, that's exactly what he did.

Sorting through his thoughts and feelings, he finally figured out what it was.

It was happiness.

She made him happy.

The knowledge floored him.

For so many years, he was cursed by the knowledge of a future he had no control of. A life of which tore him apart from the places and people he wanted to be. Yet as he watched Lois go through life with a radiant smile and an attitude that said, 'You Can't Stop Me' and without the selfishness that he could only associate too closely with the negative aspects about life, it only caused to make him admire her more.

That "Lois Feeling" crept up shamelessly at him again, and once it appears, it was hard to shake off.

"Earth to Smallville," Lois beckoned, her hands waving across his face like Daniel-son waxing a car. "You're just going to have to accept that you lost, and that I'm smarter than you."

His state of deep contemplation vanished and was quickly replaced with amusement. "You didn't follow the rules."

"What is this, the Olympic Games?" she laughed cordially. "It's a pillow fight, with a touch of Lois Lane-pizzazz. I can't help it if you're boring."

At one time, her words might have hurt him, but knowing her, 'you're boring' actually meant, 'you're a really great guy and a lot of fun to be around.' Yes, that's what it was and no one can make him believe otherwise.

"Achoo!"

Clark's attention snapped up to find Lois sneezing as Shelby situated himself comfortably on his back while she rubbed his belly. The content look on his cute-doggie face was enough to tell him that he was in dog heaven.

Clark smiled. "Why do you play with him when you don't even like him?"

Shelby barked at him as if he understood what he said and took offense while Lois just sat on the floor, shrugging.

"I guess he's lonely."

"He has me," he said, a little put out.

"Yeah, but you're…" it was obvious the word didn't jump out of her when she finally managed one. "Um… you."

"That was poetic, Lois." 

And then Lois sneezed again. He didn't even bother by giving her a 'bless you,' but then that "Lois Feeling" came at him again like a force he wished would stop coming on so strongly. There was just something charming about Lois playing with Shelby even though it was a detriment to her health. That and she continued to insist she didn't like dogs.

With no other things to do than wait for their food to arrive, he joined her on the floor. One eye on the dog and the other to her just in case she wanted to start Pillow Fight v2.

"This is nice," Clark said. "I think Shelby's the best thing to happen to our family when my dad was still around, I guess I have you to thank for that."

"You mean after I ran him down and dragged him to the house?"

Clark laughed out loud and it was becoming obvious that this was a recurring habit around her. "Well, besides that."

"I'd say the same but I don't want it getting to Shelby's head. He's spoiled enough as it is." She continued to rub slow circles on Shelby's soft tummy, the retriever's eyes closing in and out of obvious tiredness. "He so has the right idea," she sighed.

"You can take my room if you're sleepy," he offered genuinely. Clark has noticed that she's been working a lot lately since she started working at the Daily Planet. "I'll bring your food up when it gets here."

"Thanks, but I'll be all right." As proof against this, she yawned. Looking guilty, "I'm going to make some coffee. It's the one thing I can do without causing a complete disaster in the kitchen." She got up after some very heavy protesting from Shelby. It was obvious who his favorite person is between them and Clark couldn't help but agree.

"Me too, buddy." He brushed his hand through Shelby's golden fur. "I know how you feel." He turned to see a glimpse of Lois working the coffee pot and sighed.

There goes that "Lois Feeling" again.

**The End**


	2. Daily Planet Wanderings

**Title**: Daily Planet Wanderings  
**Author**: Nadia Mack  
**Rating**: K+  
**Disclaimer**: I Own Nothing. Spoilers for Season 7, Beware!  
**Author's Notes**: This is a companion piece, or a sequel to "Assault on Kent Farm" due to requests to perhaps continue the storyline. I should probably create a single title and just label these chapters with their appropriate titles.

Clark wandered the floor of the Daily Planet with unease. This was the first time he ever really set foot on the floor where all the big stories printed happened. On the way up from the elevator, he reminded himself that Chloe called the area a bull pen, a term he didn't quite understand until he was literally in the center of it.

He had thought the basement was loud but this, this place felt like it was on the cusp of catastrophe.

Phones rang all over the place. When one employee picked it up, several more calls took its place. Monitors where everywhere, appropriately displayed in threes high enough on the pillars that lined the floor so everyone can catch a glimpse of any oncoming reports. Files and files of paper where scattered throughout desks, many even on the floor, some stacked so high, he couldn't even see who was behind it. The noise itself was almost unbearable, and if it wasn't for his ability to adjust his hearing, he would've gone deaf. How anybody else couldn't astounded him.

The place felt like a zoo of epic proportions. There didn't seem to be anything that anybody didn't do.

It finally occurred to him that this was exactly the place he could imagine Lois to be. She seemed to thrive on noises and being on the move. She could never sit still unless absolutely necessary.

Speaking of, the woman he's been looking for was nowhere to be seen. According to Chloe, Lois was hired as a junior reporter, a title he felt Chloe was having a hard time dealing with when he asked where he could find her. It seemed that the rift created by Lois's unprecedented hire was still as raw and fresh as it was when it first appeared.

He wished that Chloe wasn't hurt but the truth is, Lois rising to the top wounded both her dreams and her pride, and the blow of it hasn't subsided with time.

"Um, excuse me," Clark said, tapping the shoulder of one employee lightly in hopes to question him about a wayward reporter. He was ignored of course, which happens to be a something that occurred regularly since no one in the bull pen felt gracious enough to help him.

Was everyone in the reporting world like this? He hoped not.

"Uh, hello," he tried again but it was becoming a fruitless endeavor on his part. Disappointed, he turned around and made his way back to the lobby when he caught the familiar sight of Lois Lane from the corner of his eye.

Stopping on his tracks, he didn't even feel the pressure of another employee hitting his back when he halted. There might've been a curse or some other additional obscenity uttered but he didn't hear it. All he could see was Lois looking elegant and classy in a dark brown pant suit that showed competence and ambition.

He felt the stirrings of the "Lois Feeling" bubbling to the surface when suddenly, the image of her looking very much the adult forced him to look at his own self and what he found was seriously lacking. Dressed in his favorite bi-color outfit, red and blue, Cark had the sudden urge to super speed out of the bull pen and change. Instead, he waited by the end of the newsroom in hopes Lois could spot him outside.

Inadvertently, his super hearing picked up on her familiar voice and against his better judgment, zoomed into her conversation in spite of his mental protests not too. She was talking to a man that didn't look younger than 25 and they seem to be having a heated argument.

"No, I can't allow you to put yourself in that kind of position," the man said in a voice the spoke with authority far beyond his years. It took Clark a second to realize that this man is actually the assistant editor of the Daily Planet. "Stay away from Hobb's Bay, Lois," he warned and Clark got a sinking feeling she wasn't going to obey him, and he was usually right about these things.

When he tried to continue to listen in, she was already out of the door when she saw him.

Clark waved, and for anyone that even knew him, he came across as a little too dorky.

Lois made a beeline to her desk before walking towards him. Having known her for several years, he could tell even without his powers that she was exhausted, but she always made a great inhumanly effort not to let it show, and he had to admit, her act has passed his radar more than once.

"What brings you to the zoo, Smallville?"

"I was in the neighborhood," he answered with a smile. He watched her pass him and he followed her, avoiding the looks of various employees who felt his presence was a hindrance to their work space. "I thought I'd stop by and see how you were doing. I haven't seen you for a couple of weeks."

"Hmm…" she responded noncommittally as she perused the file in her hands. "That's nice."

Clark sighed clearly noting the distracted look in her features. It was going to take a bull dozer to get her mind off of work and he was just not witty enough at the moment to make a perfect excuse to get her mind out of it.

"Is there something you need?" she asked.

He looked up and found her staring, and for a moment he felt maybe he should really have speeded home and changed into something that didn't make him look like a high schooler.

"I didn't mean to disturb you," he began to apologize but she promptly cut him off.

"You're not," she said and it almost sounded like she meant it. "I have a lot on my mind. Works been a bit… overwhelming."

He smiled weakly towards her. "Do you need any help?" he offered. "We can bounce ideas off each other." He wished he knew what she was thinking, but he always had a hard time reading her thoughts when her mannerisms weren't involved.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm good."

He tried not to let his disappointment show but before he could wallow in self-pity she offered something else.

"I'm going upstairs, do you want to come?"

He jumped at the chance a little too enthusiastically. "Yeah, sure."

Lois tilted her head to the side intently. "You all right, Clark?" She used his name. She normally doesn't do that unless she was absolutely serious and sincere, and it caused him to immediately back track.

"No, I'm fine," he managed to say.

Up on the roof, Clark looked extremely uncomfortable. When she said upstairs, he didn't take they were literally going to end up on top of all the floors. He was beginning to wish she took him up on his offer earlier with her work.

Lois eyed him suspiciously. "What's wrong with you?" she asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Have you ever been up here?"

"No," Clark gulped. Against his will memories of Valentine's Day popped up in his mind with a vengeance and he could do little to put it aside than to avoid eye contact. He was suddenly grateful she didn't remember.

Lois nodded and turned back and faced the city. "After they hired me, I didn't think I realized what that meant until it finally sunk in. And when it did, I felt like I couldn't breathe. Then I found this place." She leaned over the railing, her face looking as peaceful as he's ever seen before. "It's a little cold but I like it. It's pretty once you get past the chill."

Clark took a few tentative steps towards the rail and looked over to see the streets of Metropolis moving at what felt like a turtle like pace. "I guess," he said unremarkably. His failure to learn how to fly from Kara still stung his ego and he couldn't bare taking in the height of where they were standing at.

"There's just something about this place that seems familiar…"

"Really?" He tried not to let her think it was more than what it was. Clearly, remnants of Valentine's Day lingered, she just didn't know it was there.

"It's like sitting in a café, or reading a book, and you feel like someone's watching you. Those feelings like you know something but you can't quite get a hold of it."

Clark knew the feeling better than anyone.

"Yeah."

"That's how I feel when I'm up here. I could get lost and not worry about falling."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She looked at him like he was mental and he sheepishly gave a look of embarrassment at his slip. It was obvious that it was exactly what she was doing now and he just had to make a fool of himself by asking a rhetorical question.

"How's Chloe?"

Clark sighed deeply due to the upcoming conversation. He was hoping to avoid this until later but he supposed it was better than their previous discussion.

"She's fine. She wanted to know if you were going to my mom's dinner party this weekend."

"I think I am. What about her?"

"She said she might, too."

"You know, if she didn't feel comfortable having me there, all she had to do was ask and I won't be."

"She said the same thing about you."

"Well tell her that–"

"Stop!" he cut her off suddenly, quieting Lois like he's never done before. If it weren't for the importance of what he was going to say, he would have reveled in it.

"What's wrong with you now?" she snapped.

"You and Chloe need to talk. In person. Eye to eye. Without me as your message boy. I'm not a personal live courier, Lois."

"Of course you're not!" she defended herself. "But could you tell her–"

"No!" he reiterated but he calmed himself down. "Look, I get where she's coming from. She feels like a failure and you becoming a reporter here just made it worse…" Lois opened her mouth but he didn't let her cut in. "It's not that she hates your or anything, she wants to be happy for you but it's hard because she's still an intern at the bottom floor."

"She's not a failure."

"But next to you, she feels like one," he argued a little too honestly. Lois looked taken aback but she had to hear it. "She's not you, Lois. She's strong and she's smart, but you're stronger–"

"She's smarter."

"You're smart," he said confidently.

"You're really stroking my ego, Smallville," she said wanting to deflect the conversation. It was a classically-Lois move that he knew too well to let her get away with it.

"And I'm putting aside my pride to do it, Lois," he said letting out his own frustrations regarding his growing feelings for her through her troubles with Chloe. "She feels lost right now, and unlike you, she doesn't want to be lost."'

"It amazes me how far you've come," she commented. "To use my own words and make me feel guilty about them… remind me next time not to have a serious conversation with you."

She started to leave and he reached out and grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Where are you going?" he asked softly.

She twisted from his grip and kept moving. "I'm taking your advice."

It took him a second to realize that it was Chloe she was referring to before he let out a confused sigh. He hoped this "Lois Feeling" would go away, because the more he was around her the more it was getting to be difficult not to succumb to the temptation of wanting something else from her.

He thought he would have learned his lesson from past experiences, but he felt this was different, yet he didn't want it to be different. He wanted it to go back to the way it was, when barbs and teases were the norm. It was their thing: fun, safe and trusting.

It was heading to a completely different direction now and he didn't think he was capable of not letting it show.

Damn her.

**The End**


	3. Packing Conversation

**Title**: Packing Conversation  
**Author**: Nadia Mack  
**Rating**: K+  
**Disclaimer**: I Own Nothing. Spoilers for Season 7, Beware!  
**Author's Notes**: The third installment from my series. I couldn't help myself. Perhaps I'm making up for lost time. Oh, and David, putting "The End" at the end of the update helps me decide where I should continue or leave it as it is.

Lois dreamed of sleep.

She tossed and turned and despite the lack of caffeine in her system, a peaceful slumber wasn't in the cards.

She thought that moving out of the Talon and away from Chloe would help her better sleep at night, but all it seemed to do is fill her with even more thoughts.

The sound of thunder proved an additional annoyance. Leaving her bed, she headed downstairs to the living room when she realized she wasn't alone. Lifting an empty vase from a nearby table, she slowly crept her way down the wire balustrade of her central carriage stairway.

When she reached her clean line sofa, she let out a huff when she realized who it was, picked up a throw pillow and slapped the intruder with a great big thud.

"Hey!"

She eyed her unwanted guest dangerously and the reaction she received was comical at best.

"Its 2am in the morning," Lois said, largely annoyed. "What are you doing here and how did you get in?"

Her guest gave her a pathetic imitation of a helpless puppy-dog expression that had no doubt come from her equally annoying cousin.

"Don't send me home," Kara pleaded.

She couldn't turn her away even if she wanted to. Tired enough not to roll her eyes, she turned for the kitchen and began the process of making coffee. If she wasn't going to sleep, she sure as hell wasn't going to suffer staying awake.

"What's your preference?"

The relieved look on Kara's face was almost enough to alleviate her errant thoughts.

"French roast," but she ignored her.

"Folgers black it is."

While the coffee was brewing, Kara moved to sit on the bar counter the sat right in front of the kitchen island.

"This is a nice place. Better than the farm."

"Yeah," Lois wholeheartedly agreed but a part of her will always have a soft spot for the farm home that took her in when she had no direction in life. "When the General realized that I was actually doing something with my life, he had this place renovated enough so I could live in it. It turned out better than I expected. Have you seen my wine cooler, I'm absolutely in love with it."

"They taste funny."

"I swear, that's one weird family trait you and Smallville got. Neither of you enjoy drinking at all. You do realize you're stepping on thousands of years of cultural enjoyment?" she sighed and placed a hand sadly on the shoulder of the young woman. "I pity you."

Kara laughed. "You're really cool, Lois. Thanks for not kicking me out."

She waved it off. "No problem, but don't think I'm giving up my bed for you." Lois gestured to a closet on the other end of the room. "There are clean sheets and extra pillows over there if you need it." She looked over and saw that the coffee was finished brewing. "So, what are you doing here or do I even have to ask?"

Not having to explain, Kara went straight to the point. "I know Clark's just looking after me, but I feel like he coddles me too much. I'm suffocating, Lois. Please tell him to stop."

Lois sympathized with her greatly but no matter how much she wants to help assert Kara's independence, because she is by no means a child, it wasn't her place. All she could do is be there for her when she needs some space away from her overbearing cousin who acts more like an overbearing brother.

"Have you tried talking to him? Conversation minus the shouting can go a long way to understanding each other. Believe me, I know."

"Yeah, but we end up arguing anyway."

She smiled at the image of Kara and Clark arguing. After all his drama with Lana Lang and Lex Luthor, it feels almost like a relief that he was arguing about something that was different arguing about.

"He just cares," Lois said simply.

"I know that, I do, but he just hovers all the time and that alone is a great feat because he _can't_ hover," Kara exclaimed lost in her own little world.

Lois took her words oddly, not understanding what exactly she meant by that.

"Well, you can't solve it by staying here every time you two have a disagreement." Then a light bulb suddenly turned on. "How did you get here so fast?"

Kara gulped at the question and Lois immediately knew she'd been caught. "I… I sort of…" Kara tried to explain but Lois only gave her a reproachful look.

"You can't be hitching a ride or borrowing your cousin's truck every time you two have a problem. I have a younger sister, remember. If I were him, I'd be having colorful words for you."

Kara laughed but it was clear to her that she didn't do it to make fun of the situation. "Couldn't I just live with you?"

Lois's jaw dropped open. "I… don't think that's a good idea." It was almost irrational, but she felt an overwhelming thrill at knowing that there was somebody in the world who wanted her help, pure and simple and no designs involved.

Kara pouted. "Why not?"

"You're Clark's family, not mine." Lois realized the words might've harmed Kara more than she meant to. "That's not what I… look at me," she said, taking her hands. She felt it shaking. "He's new at this, and it looks like you are, too. But you need to meet him half way. Even if he was too hard headed to listen, at least you know you put it out there. If he doesn't consider your feelings, then the fault is on him, not you."

Kara's eyes held a sadness that even in their moments of revelation Lois could never truly understand. She knew that she had a troubling past, but she also knew that Kara was a good girl and that she didn't mean any harm. A lot of times, she felt Kara was a young girl experiencing the joy of teenhood for the first time than that of a 19 year-old preparing for her adult life.

She took to wearing vintage clothing, many that actually came from the hours they spent shopping. Kara liked listening to grunge rock, some heavy metal and for goodness sakes, 90s pop music. When she saw an IPod on television one day, Lois caught the look of excitement across her face and then the crushing inevitability that she couldn't have it right away… it really felt like to Lois that she was experiencing all this for the first time.

Her first gift to Kara was a 2GB IPod and look of pure appreciation on her face was enough thanks than anything she ever needed from a person.

Kara was really special, like her cousin.

"I wish I was more like you."

Lois's face looked aghast at her words. "Ack. You wouldn't want to be me, take my word for it please. I'm allergic to dogs. Can't stand uncomfortable silences. I'm constantly talking. I can't sleep unless I'm on the right side of the bed and I have an uncanny ability of getting kicked out of school. No, being me is a definite bad idea."

Kara burst out laughing, the sadness in her eyes earlier replaced with joy and Lois couldn't help but point out reality.

"See what I mean, I'm a hopeless cause. You remain you, let me handle myself," Lois added with a giant nod of her head.

"Clark said that it wasn't your fault that you got kicked out."

Lois didn't budge from what she said. "Doesn't change that fact that I got booted." She looked proud saying it, too.

"Yes," Kara finally agreed. "Thousands of years of cultural drinking tradition will no doubt never lead you astray."

"Oooh, you're learning."

Kara smiled.

At this moment, Lois pulled out a pack of cards from one of the counter drawers and led Kara to the living room. "Come on, let's play a game while you and I are still wide awake. We might as well not get bored in the process."

"Bullshit!" Kara hoped ecstatically.

"Maybe I shouldn't have taught you this game so soon, I've created a monster. I can't imagine what Clark is thinking if he knew what I was teaching you," Lois teased.

"He'd probably give me a long lecture about the cruelties of the use of derogatory words."

"He's your cousin," Lois thanked the Gods he wasn't hers. "So how was your trip to D.C.?" She shuffled the cards. "You're not giving Mrs. Kent any problems, are you? Just remember, say 'no' to Clark anytime, but to Martha Kent it's not possible."

Kara laughed and picked up all the cards Lois placed on her side. "Even though I don't see her that much, Mrs. Kent has been really great." Kara dropped two cards. "Two aces."

"That woman is a saint," Lois said without hesitation. "Three jacks."

"Four tens."

"Bullshit!" Lois said followed by a click of her tongue. Kara's loud sigh was indicative enough to know that her cards were a fake.

"How do you keep doing that?"

She dutifully ignored her. "Three Kings."

"Bull…shit!" Kara jumped but Lois just sent her a wry grin and pushed the three cards to her direction. "Hey! I was wrong?" She stared at the cards for a second and sighed and then grumbled something unintelligble, at least, that's what Lois thought.

"You give yourself away too early."

Kara raised her eyebrows in consternation. "What do you mean?"

"You tap your fingers when you're bluffing. It's like poker; it's all about body language."

"Oh," Kara kind of understood. "I don't know poker."

Lois shook her head. "There's so much to teach you about the ways of the world, my young padawan."

"What's a padawan?"

"Star Wars."

"A space battle?"

"No, a movie."

"About stars?"

Lois almost slapped herself. "Luke Skywalker. Lightsabers?" she made a swooshing laser sound while she imitated a swordsman in thin air. "Darth Vader? Oh, you've got to be kidding me. It's like, ingrained in popular culture."

Kara stared at her blankly. "So what does that have to do with a padawan?"

Lois let out a chuckle she tried not to turn it into a big laugh. "It's a term used in the movie Star Wars to describe pupils from an Order called the Jedi." She gave Kara a pitiful look. "We'll stop by Blockbuster sometime and watch it together."

Kara beamed at which Lois thought was another sure-fire way to avoid being in Smallville. _Poor Clark_, she thought. He certainly has his hands full with this one.

"It's your turn."

"Oh right," Kara said. "Two queens."

"Two aces."

This went on for about an hour, and the girls were having a great time until her phone rang.

"Oh no, please don't answer it," Kara said, her fear at the possibility of having to go back to the farm obvious.

"It's okay, I'll tell him its okay for you to spend the night."

"But–"

"No buts," Lois said assuring her. "Smallville will see my way, just you watch." She clicked the phone on and placed it to her ear. "This better be life-threatening if you're calling me this early."

Clark began to randomly fire words at her that could make even the most attentive person faint. When she turned to look at Kara, she was huddled in the corner of her couch, her knees to her chest as she played with her cards and avoiding eye contact at all costs. Her heart went out to her.

"Smallville, she's fine. Yes, she's with me, where do you think she was? Yes, I invited her. No, you're not coming over here. Go back to sleep, Smallville. Call me again before noon tomorrow and I'll make sure that Elmer has a slow agonizing end in a toilet bowl," she warned before clicking the phone off. "There, see."

The phone rang again and this time, Lois rolled her eyes.

"What now?" she answered but then she turned squeamish. "Hi, daddy. What a coincidence. I was just talking to Clark and then you called. It's almost 3:30, what are you doing still up? Ah, yeah, Lucy. No, I haven't heard from her. Just send it to me and I'll see what I can do from here. Okay, daddy. Bye."

"Your dad?"

"Yup, that would be the General."

"Why do you call him that?"

"What, the General?" Lois thought about it for a moment and then answered. "I guess because that's what everybody refers him. And maybe because it's impersonal, like, if he's just a General, I can get away with things. If I thought of him as my dad, then I'd feel even guiltier for not listening to him."

"I don't get it."

Perhaps she'd go easy with the explanations. "It's a nickname, simple as that. An extended form of affection, I guess you can say."

Kara's eyes suddenly flashed as if she realized something of great importance. "Like what you call Clark '_Smallville_,' because you have great affection for him."

"Yes," then Lois realized what she just agreed to. "NO!"

Kara's eyes narrowed in confusion. "But you just said–"

"That's different," Lois interrupted. "He's like… a cousin."

Kara frowned. "But he's not your cousin."

"Thank you for pointing that out," Lois replied dryly. "I swear, sometimes I think you're from another planet."

Kara stiffened but caught herself from reacting any further. "Right," she chuckled. "But why do you call him Smallville, then? I mean, his name is Clark. Why can't you call him just Clark?"

"It's… our thing."

"I'm confused," Kara yawned.

Noticing the signals, she stood up. "Do you want to get some sleep now?"

"I think so."

Lois sighed in relief at the sight of her falling asleep and not pursuing the line of questioning. "All right. I'll take care of these later," she said pointing to their cups of empty coffee mugs. "Goodnight, Kara."

"'Night."

Lois watched as the young woman quickly fell into a deep sleep. Softly reaching into a closet, she took out a blanket and laid it on top of her before leaving behind last minute pearls of wisdom even if she didn't hear her.

"Clark's a good man," she said in a whisper. "One day you'll look back on this and thank him for caring."

On a rooftop across the street, as the rain poured heavily down against him, a pair of blue eyes watched Lois's retreating form with equal thanks and admiration.

**The End**


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